Mark Duggan family accuse police of operating a 'shoot to kill' policy

The family of Mark Duggan, the Tottenham man whose death in a police shooting last month sparked five days of widespread riot and disorder, believe officers were operating a “shoot to kill” policy.

Duggan’s brother, Shaun Hall, 42, said ahead of Duggan’s funeral on Friday: “The police were clearly operating a shoot to kill policy that day. They are supposed to disable, not kill, suspects. If they hadn’t shot and killed Mark there would have been no riots.”

The family, in exclusive interviews with the Guardian, said they had been told that the bullet fired at Duggan’s chest after officers intercepted the taxi he was travelling in, would have killed him in seven to 12 seconds, giving him no prospect of surviving.

They are devastated by his loss and distraught at the misinformation initially put out that the incident in Ferry Lane in Tottenham, north London, was a “shootout”.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC), which is investigating the killing on 4 August, confirmed the two shots that were fired were from a CO19 firearms officer.